Chapter 26: Do Not Use the Program Team's Name Without Permission

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After circling the outer edge of the market, Xiao Yao finally chose a shop and walked inside. Xie Huan looked up and saw that it was a store selling occupational safety supplies.

The shopkeeper was a young woman in her thirties. With her slightly curled long hair, chiffon short-sleeved blouse, knee-length pencil skirt, and high heels, she looked quite fashionable.

When she saw a child carrying a basket on his back enter the shop, the woman came over on her own, bent down, and asked with a smile, “Hello, little boy. What would you like to buy?”

“Mm-hmm.” Xiao Yao nodded. “I’d like a set of work clothes in size 180, and a pair of shoes in size 43.”

“So you really are here to buy something?” the shopkeeper asked curiously. “Where are your parents? How did they let a little boy like you come out to buy clothes and shoes by yourself?”

She had seen children that age sent out on small errands, but this was the first time she had seen one come into a shop alone to buy clothes and shoes—especially not a clothing store, but a safety-supply shop like hers.

“I’m taking part in a show.” Xiao Yao turned around and pointed toward the cameraman following him from a short distance away but waiting outside the shop. “Dad has his own task in the village. My task is to come out and buy things by myself.”

The shopkeeper followed his finger and saw several adults standing outside her shop, one of them carrying a camera on his shoulder and filming them.

“You’re on a show? What show?” she asked curiously, a trace of excitement rising in her heart. “Could it be...”

Xiao Yao smiled. “Have you seen Where Are We Going, Dad?”

“I have, I have!” the shopkeeper said delightedly. “Then your father must be a big star! Who is he?”

“My dad is Xiao Siqi. Do you know him?” Xiao Yao asked.

“Xiao Siqi...?” The woman searched her memory. “That name sounds awfully familiar.”

“My dad’s a singer—the one who sang ‘The Most Beautiful.’ You know: ‘You are the most beautiful in my heart, every smile leaves me intoxicated.’” Xiao Yao even sang the last two lines softly.

“Oh!” The shopkeeper suddenly understood, then grew excited. “I know him, I know him! I’ve heard that song. It’s lovely! So you’re Xiao Siqi’s son? How old are you? What’s your name?”

“Auntie, I came here to buy things.” Xiao Yao looked at the excited woman and reminded her helplessly.

“Oh, right.” The shopkeeper calmed herself down. “What was it you wanted again? Work clothes, wasn’t it? Auntie will get them for you. What size?”

“Size 180.”

“For your father?” she asked.

“Mm-hmm.” Xiao Yao nodded.

“What color? Red? Blue? Or gray?” the shopkeeper asked, pointing at several sets of work clothes hanging on the wall.

“The blue ones.” Xiao Yao pointed to one set.

“All right.” The shopkeeper happily took the clothes down, found a bag, and packed them neatly. “What else do you need?”

“Shoes.” Xiao Yao pointed at the shoes displayed inside the glass counter. “These rubber shoes will do. The village roads are all dirt, so leather shoes won’t be easy to walk in. I need size 43.”

“Certainly.” Following Xiao Yao’s directions, the shopkeeper went to the piles of shoes in the back and brought out a pair of green rubber work shoes in size 43. “Anything else?”

Xiao Yao looked around the shop, then pointed at a display of nonslip gloves. “I want these gloves too. Five pairs.”

“Sure. Er... five pairs?” The shopkeeper agreed excitedly, then suddenly realized what he had said and looked at him in confusion. “Weren’t you buying these for your father? Why do you need so many? How much work does your father have to do?”

“Dad said everyone has to work. If we have enough money, he wants me to buy a pair for all the uncles taking part in the show too,” Xiao Yao replied.

“That’s right, there are five families on the show.” The shopkeeper suddenly understood. Then she lowered her voice and asked, “Could you tell Auntie who else is taking part besides your father? What are the names of those uncles?”

The show had not yet aired. Although there had been news online that it was in production, the producers had not released the guest list. The internet was filled with speculation. If she could find out now, she would have something impressive to tell everyone.

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“Sure.” Xiao Yao did not mind. The production team had never told him to keep the guest list secret. He proceeded to name the other four fathers.

The shopkeeper was thrilled and reached for her phone.

“Auntie, these are all the things I need. Could you add them up for me?” Xiao Yao interrupted her in time.

“Oh, right. Wait a moment while Auntie calculates.” The shopkeeper picked up a calculator and began pressing the buttons while muttering to herself. “The work clothes are seventy, the shoes twenty, and five pairs of gloves twenty-five. That comes to one hundred and fifteen. I’ll give you a discount—one hundred even.”

“What? That’s so expensive.” Xiao Yao put on a pitiful expression. “I only have a few dozen yuan altogether, and there are still lots of other things I need to buy. I haven’t even bought the ingredients for lunch.”

“You still have to buy the ingredients and cook lunch yourself?” the shopkeeper asked.

“Mm.” Xiao Yao nodded miserably.

“All right, then. Auntie will give you all these things for free. Save your money and buy yourself something tasty,” the shopkeeper said generously.

“No.” Xiao Yao stubbornly shook his head. “The task says I have to buy the things. If you give them to me, it won’t count as completing my task.”

“Is that so? Then you tell me how much you can pay.” The shopkeeper smiled, finding the child rather principled.

“Would twenty be all right?” Xiao Yao hunched his shoulders, cautiously held up two fingers, and asked in a small voice.

“All right, twenty it is.” The shopkeeper was thoroughly amused by his adorable expression. She had originally intended to give him everything for free anyway.

“Thank you, Auntie!” Xiao Yao said obediently. He placed the packed goods into the basket strapped to his chest, then cheerfully took out twenty yuan and handed it to the shopkeeper.

Throughout the entire exchange, the mouths of nearly everyone from the production crew standing outside—including Xie Huan—had scarcely closed. They watched in a daze as Xiao Yao “bought” more than a hundred yuan worth of goods for twenty yuan.

Smiling broadly, the shopkeeper saw Xiao Yao out. The moment he left, she hurried back behind the counter, grabbed her phone, and excitedly made a call.

“Hello, Lele? Sis has to tell you, my luck was incredible today. I happened to come to the agricultural market to look after Mom’s shop, and guess what happened? I ran into the filming of Where Are We Going, Dad! One of the children even came into my shop to buy things. Let me tell you exactly what happened... What? A scam? Impossible! Have you ever seen a group of adults carrying cameras send a five- or six-year-old child in to trick someone out of a few dozen yuan worth of goods? They didn’t ask me for sponsorship, and they didn’t try to cozy up to me. Those adults didn’t even come inside to speak to me. The goods were worth over a hundred yuan, and I offered to give them everything for free, but that child insisted on paying twenty yuan. Have you ever seen scammers like that? Just wait until you see me on television showing off my heroic moment...”

After leaving the shop, Xiao Yao headed straight toward the center of the market. The members of the production crew following behind him finally came to their senses. Director Jiang Cheng leaned toward Xie Huan and whispered, “Director Xie, I think I finally understand what Chen Min meant.”

“What did Chen Min say?” Xie Huan asked curiously.

“After assigning today’s filming tasks last night, Chen Min learned that I’d be following Bayi today. She told me to remember to keep my hands in front of my chest and be ready to catch my jaw whenever it dropped.” Jiang Cheng sighed. “This child is practically a monster. Imagine if all five children pooled their money with him and let him handle every purchase. He could probably fill our entire vehicle, couldn’t he?”

“Now I understand why Teacher Sun refused to let Duo’er and Bayi be on the same team.” Xie Huan nodded as well. “It seems they all know what Bayi is capable of.” He immediately shook his head. “No, we can’t let him keep doing this. We have to make things harder for him. He can’t go around buying things under the name of our show.”

As he spoke, Xie Huan caught up with Xiao Yao. “Bayi, when you buy anything else, you can’t tell people we’re filming a show, and you can’t mention the name of our program. That would be cheating, understand?”

“Oh, all right.” Xiao Yao nodded indifferently. The most expensive purchase was already taken care of, after all.

Although the production crew had imposed this extra restriction on Xiao Yao, they continued to be astonished by him all the way through the market.

“Mister, how much is this straw hat?” Xiao Yao asked at a hat stall, pointing to one.

“Twenty,” the vendor replied.

“That’s too expensive. Will you take ten?”

“No. Fifteen at the lowest,” the vendor said.

“Oh. Goodbye, Mister.” Xiao Yao turned and walked away.

At another stall, he asked the same question. “Auntie, how much is this straw hat?”

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“Twenty,” came the same answer.

“That’s too expensive. Will you take ten?” Xiao Yao persisted.

“Ten is too little. If you want it, I’ll let you have it for fifteen,” the vendor said.

“Goodbye, Auntie.” Xiao Yao turned to leave again, though this time he moved considerably more slowly.

“Hey, wait, little boy. Fine, ten it is. It can’t be easy for a child to come out and buy things all by himself.” The vendor waved him back.

“Thank you, Auntie. Here’s the money.” Xiao Yao handed over the cash. He picked up the hat and placed it on his head, only to discover that his head was too small and the brim covered his eyes. He had no choice but to take it off and carry it in his hand.

“Little boy, that hat is too big for you. I’ll get you a smaller one,” the vendor said when she saw this.

“No need. It’s for my dad.” Xiao Yao shook his head and walked away.

When bargaining over hats, Xiao Yao cut the price in half. When buying vegetables, he haggled over every few cents.

“Grandma, how much are these eggplants?”

“One yuan seventy.”

“The man at the stall just now was selling them for only one yuan fifty.”

“All right, one fifty it is. How many do you want?”

“Please pick out four and see how much they weigh.”

“All right, dear. One jin and six liang.”

“Here’s the money.”

“Here’s your change. Take it.”

“Grandma, you made a mistake. One jin and six liang comes to two yuan forty. I gave you five yuan, so you should give me two yuan sixty in change. You only gave me two forty.”

“Did I? Oh, you’re right. I calculated it wrong. Sorry, dear. Grandma’s old and her brain doesn’t work as well anymore. You’re a clever little boy. Here are another twenty cents. Take them.”

“Thank you, Grandma. Goodbye, Grandma.”

...

Jiang Cheng, Xie Huan, and the others followed behind in silence, the dark lines on their foreheads growing more numerous by the minute.

Xiao Yao bought four or five kinds of vegetables, and together with the clothes, shoes, hat, and gloves, he spent less than fifty yuan in total. His task was already completed perfectly.

Although Xiao Yao shopped quickly, he had spent quite a while circling the market at the beginning. By the time he finished buying everything and returned to the van at the market entrance, nearly an hour had passed.

Even so, he was still the first of everyone to complete his task. The other four children had not yet emerged from the market.

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